If you are navigating the early or transitional stages of your career as a writer or director, you have likely asked yourself whether you should prioritize finding an agent or a manager. For decades, traditional wisdom suggested that you needed an agent first to negotiate deals, but the reality of the contemporary entertainment ecosystem often points in the opposite direction. Signing with a manager before an agent has become one of the most practical, career-defining moves an emerging creator can make.
Having worked on both sides of the desk—first as a literary and packaging agent at WMA and CAA, and today representing writers and directors as a manager and producer—I have seen firsthand how these dynamics play out. Agents and managers serve distinctly different functions in your professional life. Understanding those differences, and recognizing why a manager is often better suited to nurture you in the early innings, will save you years of misplaced effort.
Understanding the Structural Difference: Development vs. Procurement
To understand why signing with a manager first makes strategic sense, you have to look at how each representative operates. By California law and industry standard, talent agents are licensed primarily to procure employment and negotiate contracts. Because large agencies manage high volumes of transactions, agents typically focus on clients who are already generating active buyer interest, possess recognizable credits, or hold IP that is ready to go directly to market.
Managers, on the other hand, are focused on overall career architecture, voice cultivation, and material development. A manager can roll up their sleeves with you on page one, helping you work through outline revisions, evaluate concept viability, and determine how your voice fits into current buyer appetites across studios, streamers, and production companies. When your portfolio is still taking shape, a manager provides the developmental runway an agent rarely has the bandwidth to offer.
Why Managers Are More Receptive to Early-Stage Talent
A common point of frustration for writers and directors is receiving radio silence from major agency mailrooms while cold querying. Agents are incentivized by commissions on immediate transactions. If your script requires two more rewrites before it can be sent to a studio executive or showrunner, a busy agent will almost certainly pass.
Managers work on the long curve. They invest their time upfront, betting that hands-on guidance today will build an enduring career tomorrow. A manager is far more likely to read a promising spec script from an unrepresented creator, see the raw voice beneath a slightly rough third act, and offer constructive notes to help you bring it to market standard.
- Deep script and pitch development before taking material to marketplace buyers.
- Strategic advice on which samples best showcase your individual voice.
- Career guidance focused on long-term sustainability rather than transactional speed.
How Your Manager Becomes the Bridge to an Agent
One of the clearest advantages of signing with a manager before an agent is that your manager eventually helps you secure the right agent. When you attempt to secure agency representation on your own, you are competing against thousands of unsolicited submissions. But when a respected manager picks up the phone and calls a literary agent at a major agency to say, 'I have a client with a finished pilot you need to read,' your script skips the slush pile entirely.
Your manager knows which specific agents at CAA, WMA's successor WME, UTA, or boutique firms share an affinity for your specific genre, tone, and sensibility. They also help structure the packaging conversation: identifying which directors, showrunners, or production companies to attach to make the agency representation a natural, mutually profitable partnership.
“Marc Pariser is an incredibly knowledgeable and experienced entertainment professional, as well as an ethical, caring and dependable person.. Marc and I had mutual clients when he was an agent, and he could always be counted on for direct, practical, sound advice showing his expert knowledge of the business of entertainment. “
Common Mistakes When Pitching and Querying Managers
Even though managers are more accessible than agents, they are still inundated with pitches daily. The most frequent misstep creators make is approaching managers with sprawling, unfocused communication. You do not get twenty minutes to explain your background and summarize a complex multi-season arc; you have a matter of seconds to capture someone's interest.
In my book, 'The Secret to Opening Doors in Hollywood: Mastering the 15-Second Pitch', I break down how critical that initial framing is. Whether you are pitching an original series, a feature film, or your own capabilities as a writer-director, your opening seconds must clearly establish who you are, what the project is, and why it demands attention right now. If your query letter or verbal introduction takes three paragraphs to get to the core concept, an experienced manager has already moved on.
- Sending unfocused queries that lack a distinct hook or clear target lane.
- Pitching concepts that are not backed up by a finished, polished sample.
- Failing to articulate your unique perspective and creative identity within the first few seconds.
Executing a Deliberate Outreach Strategy
If you have decided to prioritize finding a manager, your outreach must be deliberate rather than scattershot. Begin by researching management companies that represent talent whose career trajectories align with your aspirations. Look for managers who actively produce, as they often have direct development pipelines with studios and independent financiers.
Prepare two exceptional, distinct writing samples that represent your voice in its sharpest form. Never send a query asking for a general meeting; reach out with a crisp 15-second hook for your project, a sharp one-line logline, and a brief statement that explains why their specific management roster makes them the ideal partner for your work.
Key Takeaways
- Managers focus on long-term career building and script development, while agents concentrate on deal procurement.
- Signing with a manager first gives you a dedicated advocate to polish your material before it reaches buyers.
- A reputable manager serves as a direct bridge to landing the right literary agent through targeted introductions.
- Capturing interest requires an immediate, concise pitch that communicates your voice in the opening seconds.
“Marc is a smart. quality guy with a world of experience. What’s more he’s got heart and a great sense of humor. Believe what you read here. He knows the business inside and out. And did I mention that he’s a real nice guy?”
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a manager negotiate my contracts if I don't have an agent?
Under California law, managers do not legally procure employment, but they work alongside entertainment attorneys to negotiate terms, deal points, and compensation for your agreements when an agent is not involved.
If I sign with both an agent and a manager later, do I pay double commissions?
Yes. Standard industry commission rates are typically 10% for an agent and 10% to 15% for a manager, alongside 5% for an entertainment attorney. Your team works collaboratively to build deals large enough to support those commissions.
How soon after signing with a manager should I expect to sign with an agent?
There is no fixed timeline. Typically, your manager will wait until you have a marketplace-ready piece of material, traction on a project, or inbound industry interest before strategically bringing an agent onto the team.
